For the beautiful vibe, the wonderful tribe that gathered in the sunny museum garden and the inspirational talks, Nurtured family Nurtured Earth 2011 far exceeded my expectations. Dear friends old and new gathered, & people travelled from all over the country to be here & to support our vision. Father sun shone and Mother Earth was warmed.
Kids activities in the beautiful garden were started off with a session of childrens yoga with Relax Kids coach Katherine Bowdidge, and then a mad musical hour with the lovely Len tyler, who soon had the children marching round the garden whilst he led, playing the euphonium. Next up were Alfie & Paul with their ever popular ventriloquist show and then Lynne, telling her Mongolian story complete with exquisite hand made puppets, in the yurt. The afternoons activities were rounded of with Jo Davis from Etudeo getting the kids all painting banners with hands & feet (and knees, legs, tummies…you get the picture). There was also much playing and mooching done by kids of all ages, one particularly resourceful small person found the outside tap and so we had an impromptu splash pool for a while there too! There were also seeds to plant and take home and some wonderful Nature Weaving provided by Sally.
The talks were amazing, informative and inspirational ~ Anna Watson bravely started off first thing to an almost full lecture hall, engaging all with her talk on Vaccination, closely followed by Maggie Curry who spoke eloquently on Nurturing the Whole Child in Education. The afternoon saw the dynamic Patrick Houser's talk entitled, " Parents Architects of the Future" which is also the title of his upcoming book, and then Veronika Robinson shared with us the 10 threads of Nurturing, that we can all include in our lives for ourselves and our families. A booklet of Veronika's talk is now available from here for those of you who missed it or would like a very useful memento!Elsewhere, the market room buzzed with information, books, slings, networking and our fabulous Raffle that we called at the end of the day. The Red Thread kitchen, very capably run by Karen and a team of volunteers, was busy all day selling drinks, home made cakes, popcorn and fresh fruit. Our table, organised by Tanya and (wo)manned by various volunteers (mostly breastfeeding ones ~ thats what you get for sitting down!) was a hive of activity, selling raffle tickets and some lovely hand made items donated by the ladies of The Red Thread.
Out in the garden there was Tai Chi with Dean Dalrymple, a fabulous Herb Walk with Tim Carpenter and a full schedule of talks and workshops in the tipi provided by the therapists of The Indigo Touch. To round the day off, Drumheads arrived in style and provided a truly memorable and dynamic community drumming circle.
Wow, I'm exhausted but also ecstatic all over again just writing about it!
As a whole experience for me personally, the journey of Doula'ing this event has been awe inspiring. Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth was a co-creation, hatched on the dream plane between my good friend Starr and I, and nourished & nurtured over many months, first by the loving support of Veronika Robinson, and then by all of the other fantastic people who came together and blended their energy to make it happen. Somewhere very early on in this process, our baby took on a life of its own and started to gather some wonderful momentum, drawing in magic as it grew, until the end result on Saturday felt somehow effortless; flowing beautifully as we had dreamed it would. An ecstatic birth for our dream.
On the other side of it all now, no longer brainstorming, list making or planning, I have been thinking these past few days about the gifts that Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth bought for me. As I sit here typing I can see out of the window, my son climbing the oak tree in the front garden as his sisters watch rapt, from the ground. It reminds me that everything I do is driven by my children, everything is for them and for their continued wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Consciousness raising, which is ultimately what Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth is, is for all of our children and the generations to come.
I truly believe that we are all separately, vibrant drops in the still pool of the universe. Living an authentic life with our family creates rainbow ripples that resonate far and wide. You can't underestimate the value of what we can achieve by living our truth in our day to day lives, but when we come together our strength is palpable. Coming together amplifies this energy that we each cultivate in our own unique ways within the heart of our own families. It can really be felt flowing through our connections, with each other, as a community, as a tribe, when we celebrate what it is that makes us all unique. It was to harness and encourage this amazing force for change that Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth was created.
A friend emailed me in the last few days and said
"the day was ENJOYED thoroughly by everyone, young and old. Families uninformed left informed and nurtured. The energy was vibrant, excited, safe, supportive, peaceful and conscious….Liked minded souls connecting and learning from each other. "
If we had written a mission statement for Nurtured Family, then I think this would have been it. So you see, looking back on our amazing day I can truly say that I feel it is Mission Accomplished!
Reflecting on the gifts of Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth, for me the greatest gift is surely the reminder, that every time we nurture our selves and our families with consciousness and open hearts, we are also nurturing the Earth, for our children and the generations yet to come.
Let us all surf the wave of fantastic energy from Nurtured Family Nurtured Earth 2011 and trust that it will carry us as far as we need and want to go… Same time next year anyone??!
